The National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM) has asked all States and Union Territories (UTs) to roll out sensor-based IoT solutions to measure and monitor water supply in rural areas, so as to ensure water service delivery in rural homes by addressing various issues that cause disruption on a regular basis.

In a statement, the Jal Shakti Ministry said: “India has one of the most vibrant Internet of Things (IoT) eco-systems in the world, with various supporting enablers making it conducive for companies seeking to serve the global demand beyond national boundaries. The Government of India has introduced a number of initiatives to leverage the benefits of these disruptive IoT technologies in multiple sectors.”

To utilise this expertise, the NJJM, and the Ministry had set up a Technical Expert Committee to prepare a road map for measurement and monitoring of water service delivery systems in the rural areas. The committee has eminent members from academia, administration, technology and specialists from the water supply sector.

The committee met 11 times and despite the Covid pandemic, finalised the report, which has shared to the states/UTs and provides a framework to design, develop and establish a coherent system that is able to exchange the data at local and central level.

The broad framework will help the States/UTs in firming up the desired standards to meet the requirement of change from mere infrastructure to ensuring water service delivery. The NJJM, in partnership with state governments and sector partners, has started facilitating sensor-based water supply systems on pilot basis in several villages.

The data from 11 pilot locations about the daily water supply, its quantity and regularity are shown on the Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard.

“Many States like Bihar, Punjab, Haryana have come forward for the implementation. Sikkim, Manipur, Goa have completed basic survey works. Gujarat has begun navigating the sensor-based rural water supply systems in 1,000 villages. A technology grand challenge launched by NJJM in partnership with MEITY, Government of India, is going to be showcases in 100 villages in states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Manipur,” the Ministry said.

The data collected from the field locations will be transmitted to the state and Central server and can be used to monitor the functionality (quantity, quality and regularity of water supply) at the state and Central level. This will ensure to minimise service delivery outage and water loss and monitor the quantity and quality on a long-term basis.

The additional advantage of this data would be to analyse the demand pattern of the user groups over time and use this information for demand management at the aggregate level.